Pennsylvanian Perseverance: Trial, Survival, and the Battle to Exist
by music04life
Summary: It's September, 2006 in Pennsylvania. While much of the TV series' focus was put into the West Coast & the ASA, little information was ever known about the situation of survival and perseverance on the East Coast & the USA. 18 year old Lee Wright is a typical Asian-American teen living outside Harrisburg PA when his life changes forever along with those around him. Here's his story
1. The Argument

Chapter 1: The Bombs

 _Hershey, Pennsylvania. Tuesday September 19, 2006: 8:05 pm ET_

For me, my friends, and my fellow countrymen, September 19, 2006 would be a day that would forever be engraved in our minds. It was the day that the United States of America was torn apart, shattered, never to fully recover within my lifetime.

Introducing myself, my name is Lee Wright. I'm 18 years old and I live in Hershey PA, just a few minutes east of the state capital of Harrisburg and in "The Sweetest Place on Earth" due to the local chocolate industry. I live with my parents and younger sister, who were away in Canada visiting some friends leaving me behind at home for a week or so. For now, it was just me.

The day was pretty typical for late September. I had gone to school, drove to bowling practice, and come home at around 5 to finish up a bit of work and eat dinner. Now that it was late in the evening around 8, I was busy playing video games. The president was supposed to give a state of the union address tonight, but I don't enjoy watching political news. I decided to get up and head downstairs to finish off some pizza in the fridge. Probably best not to stay glued to the screen too much.

As I got up, little did I know that I would see something that would give me and many others the shock of our lives. I was in the morning room in the kitchen when I looked out the window to see a huge, orange, mushroom shaped cloud rising to the east. WAIT, A MUSHROOM SHAPED CLOUD? No way, this couldn't be right? Was it some sort of prank like the ones on YouTube? I didn't know, but I had to get a closer look!

I pulled open the sliding back door, and darted out onto my deck to investigate. Once I was outside, I could see that I wasn't the only one who wanted to see what was going on. Dozens of my neighbors and friends had gone outside as well. People stood on their lawns, looking at the rising mushroom cloud while a small crowd had gathered at a nearby intersection. All of them were pointing at the mushroom cloud and mumbling amongst themselves anxiously.

I was just as concerned as everyone else. Were we under attack? Was this some sort of accident or test? Before I could ask myself another question, my cell phone rang. Without hesitating, I flipped it open and held it to my ear.

"Hello?" I asked nervously.

"Lee muh dude? Are you seeing' this man?" asked the other person.

It was my friend Aidan. And he sounded worried.

"Yeah man, I'm seeing it too. You alright though?" I asked.

"I'm alright, but I don't think the people in Philadelphia are! Check out the TV! I'm in Harrisburg right now, and it's chaos! There are policemen and people all over the place!" he said.

I sprinted back inside without bothering to close the sliding door and smashed the power button on my TV. Man, my heart was rolling, and I'm not talking about last week's bowling tournament! Instead of the usual evening news reports or cartoons, the screen was grey and a loud beeping sound came from the speakers before the words "Pennsylvania Emergency Alert System" came on the screen.

"The Pennsylvania Emergency Alert System has issued a nuclear attack warning for the entire United States of America. All civilians are ordered to seek shelter immediately from resulting fallout. Within Pennsylvania borders, there have been tens of thousands of reports of a mushroom cloud over the city of Philadelphia with many similar reports of another mushroom cloud over or near the city of Pittsburgh." announced the government system.

Hold on! PITTSBURGH GOT HIT TOO!? Was this doomsday!? As much as I wanted to go back outside and look to the west, I needed to hear more.

"All electricity and communications are down in nearly the entire state with the exceptions of the Allentown-Scranton Metropolitan Area, the city of Williamsport, and the Harrisburg-Carlisle Metropolitan Area. Multiple attempts to contact officials within the Philadelphia and Pittsburgh areas have failed. The Pennsylvania National Guard has been activated, and the governor has declared a state of emergency. All policemen and first responders are ordered to remain on standby and report to their stations. All medical facilities have been placed under government control to prepare for a possible influx of refugees from the Philadelphia and Pittsburgh areas." continued the announcement.

Oh s#%t! So I was pretty sure that Philadelphia was gone and maybe Pittsburgh, but what about the rest of the country? Well, at least my parents and sister were okay up in Canada where it was safe. I'll have to contact them later ASAP once I make sure I'm safe.

"More and more reports are coming in and as muddled as the information is to the state government, other confirmed hits include Denver, Atlanta, Houston, Dallas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, Hartford, Baltimore, and Washington D.C. All citizens are advised to stay tuned in for further announcements and instructions. The governor has announced he will address the state in 20 minutes."

OH MY GOD! This was doomsday? The entire country was under attack, our capital was gone, the lights and communications were down in most of the country, and no one knew what was going on or how to handle it.

Just then, I heard a voice coming from my pocket.

"Lee? Lee? You there? Are you okay man?" said the voice worriedly.

Oh geez, I forgot about Aidan! "Yeah, I'm okay. For now." I replied. "How's the city looking?"

"Harrisburg is holding up for now, but more and more people are starting to panic. The police are keeping things under control for now and I think that once the refugees from Philadelphia get here, it's going to get really ugly. Anyway, I wanted to see if you wanted to come to my apartment. My parents are out of town in Erie and I could really use some company and I think you could use some too. By the way, Louisa is coming over too and so is my girlfriend Alexis." said Aidan. "It's safer to be near the city right now I think."

Hmmmm… I was okay here at home, but what if the refugees came and looted the place? They would be desperate and I didn't want to be alone when they got here, which would probably be in a few hours. With my mind made up, I replied to Aidan.

"Alright, I'll come over. I should be there in 15 minutes." I said before hanging up.

Under normal circumstances, I would've said "bye" or "see ya", but there was no time to waste! I sprinted upstairs and grabbed a small suitcase, stuffing as much of my clothes into it as I could. I then grabbed my backpack and emptied it of all my school stuff. I had a feeling that I wasn't going to be using any of it for a long, long time. I brought it and my suitcase downstairs and threw as much food as I could into the backpack including canned goods, a box of noodles, some drink mix, instant coffee and tea bags, other goods. I also threw in a first aid kit and some soap and batteries. Finally, I went upstairs and went to my parent's room and grabbed the .38 pistol that my dad owned for self-defense. I also grabbed as many rounds as I could and stuffed them into my fanny pack with a lighter, a box of matches, my cell phone, it's charger, and a portable battery. I was probably going to need the gun alter for self defense.

Once I had everything, I threw it all into the backseat of my car except for the fanny pack with the pistol and drove off towards the apartment building where Aidan lived. I left the neighborhood with no problems and surprisingly, there wasn't as much traffic out as I had expected. Anyone who was out was heading on I-83 south towards Cumberland County across the Susquehanna River. I got off I-83 at the Cameron Street exit before I drove down the pike and pulled into the parking lot of the apartment building that Aidan lived at. It was a large, 11-story building that was fairly new and fully updated. Man, he was really lucky to live here and I was really lucky to be taking refuge here for possibly a long time.

I gathered my stuff and pushed my way through a crowd of people in the lobby gathered in front of a a large TV and a few radios before I ran up the stairs to Aidan's apartment on the 10th floor. I was huffing and puffing by the time I got to Aidan's door and knocked.

"Who's out there?" said a familiar voice loudly and defensively.

"Bro, Aidan, it's me, Lee!" I replied.

I heard the deadbolt slide away and the loud clicking of a lock before the Aidan pulled the door open.

"Lee, muh dude, glad you made it safely!" he said as we shook hands.

"Yeah, me too." was all I could say before I went in.

Once I had walked in, Aidan not only closed the door and locked it, but he also dragged a table across the front completely blocking it.

"Can never be too safe man." he said as he led me into the apartment. In the front room, his girlfriend Alexis and my girlfriend Louisa were on the sofa.

"Lee! You made it!" cried Louisa as she ran over to give me a tight hug.

"Uh, I missed you too!" I replied. "Now, what are you guys up to?"

"The governor's gonna speak!" answered Aidan as he brought a crank radio over to the front room.

He began cranking it as he used his other hand to set it to the right station. That wasn't necessary though as the governor was on every station.

"Good evening Pennsylvania. A short time ago, I was informed of a large scale nuclear attack across the United States that had destroyed at least 20 cities, including Philadelphia and possibly Pittsburgh. Despite the best efforts of our finest technical operators, we have not been able to make contact with the Federal government in Washington D.C therefore, we will have to assume the worst. As of now, electricity, utilities, and communications are down in the majority of the country. We are very fortunate to have all of our services still functional, but in order to conserve valuable electricity, all South Central PA utility companies have been instructed to shut off electricity from 10:00 pm - 6:00 am starting in 2 days. The National Guard has been activated and will be securing Central Pennsylvania to deal with the future influx of refugees from the Philadelphia, Baltimore, D.C., and Pittsburgh areas. At this time, all policemen, local authorities and officials, and first responders are to be on standby at their stations. As for all civilians and anyone else who is listening to this, the state government here in Harrisburg will keep you updated. Please rest easy and God bless America." The governor finished with a solemn tone as the radio went back to static.

Aidan, Alexis, Louisa, and I sat back, unnerved before Aidan broke the silence.

"So uhh Lee… how much stuff did you bring?" he asked.

I showed him everything I had brought with me in my backpack and fanny pack. Aidan looked impressed.

"With the addition of your suppliers we probably have enough food to last a week." he commented.

Alexis decided to speak up. "We should conserve the luxuries such as coffee, sugar, tea, and candy cuz I don't think we'll see too much of that for a while."

"Well hopefully the governor will hook us up with Canada or a few other countries. That way, we can get some extra supplies." added Louisa. "In the meantime, we should got to sleep. We gotta be ready for what happens tomorrow.

"Right. I'll take the first watch. Gotta watch out for looters." I said, withdrawing the pistol from my fanny pack.

"Okay. Alexis and I have my room and you and Louisa have take the guest bedroom." said Aidan. "Let's all try to get some sleep. I'll relieve you in 4 hours Lee." he said. "You're the man!"

Louisa came up to me and gave me a peck on the cheek. "Stay safe Lee! Goodnight!" she smiled.

Whoa, we haven't kissed since the spring dance at the high school last year! Maybe this was the opportunity to get closer, but for now, I had watch duty to worry about.

The others mumbled their 'goodnights' and headed down the hall. I heard their bedroom doors slamming shut behind them as I took a seat on the sofa. I shut off all but 1 of the lights in the apartment to save electric like the governor said we had to. I had no trouble staying awake because butterflies tumbled around in my stomach like a washing machine out of anxiousness. I nor my friends or even the state government knew what to expect, but all I knew was that the next few months would be a struggle to maintain order within our state boundaries and ration whatever supplies we had. I was worried for the PA, the whole country, how the rest of the world would cope with our temporary downfall, my friends from school, and most of all, my family up in Canada. Surely they would be safe, wouldn't they?

 _To be continued..._


	2. Refugee Crisis

Chapter 2: Refugee Crisis

 _Wednesday Sept. 20, 2006_. _The next morning…_

I awoke in the easy chair in Aidan's front room to the sound of horns honking and people yelling outside. Getting up and stretching, I made my way over to the balcony window and was about to pull the curtain aside to see what was happening when I felt a hand on my shoulder. Startled, I jumped before whirling around to face Aidan.

"Whoa Lee, take it easy!" he laughed. "I was going to tell you to hold on! You don't know what's out there."

Alexis and Louisa came into the room. "Why don't we all just look?" suggested Louisa.

Neither Aidan nor I could argue so all 4 of us ripped aside the curtain in front of Aidan's balcony door and were greeted with the sight of military vehicles, Red Cross vans, and humvees jamming the streets going into Harrisburg. Hundreds if not thousands of people lined the streets also heading towards the city carrying suitcases, duffel bags, and other luggage.

"What do ya think's going on?" asked Alexa.

I shook my head. "I'm not sure. Maybe we should go down and ask around a bit."

Louisa jumped up. "Lee are you nuts?! Things could get out of hand!"

Aidan rolled his eyes. "Louisa, do those people look like they're going to riot anytime soon? The Red Cross is out there and there's soldiers and policemen all over the place. If Lee wants to go out there, I'll go too"

Louisa glanced at me and then Aidan before sighing. "Alright. Just be careful Lee." she said as she hugged me.

I returned then hug. "Okay, I will."

I grabbed the fanny pack that had my .38 in it while Aidan dragged the table away from in front of the front door and undid all the locks.

"Okay Lee, let's go." he said.

I just nodded and Aidan opened the door. I followed him out as Alexis closed it from behind us. Aidan and I went down several flights of stairs before entering the lobby. The lobby was just as crowded as it was last night, except there were people who were sitting on top of their suitcases, trying to change out of sweaty, dirty clothes, and tending to their children.

"Who do you think we should talk to?" asked Aidan, looking around.

I looked to my right and spotted a girl about our age who was sitting dazed in a corner.

"Let's ask her." I said as Aidan followed me.

The girl looked up at us both suspiciously. "Who are you guys?" she asked defensively.

"It's okay, we just want to talk to you." said Aidan. "What's your name and where are you from?"

The girl seemed to relax a bit. "I'm Emma. I came here from outside of Baltimore."

Wait, Baltimore was one of the cities that got hit! I had to find out more!

"What happened last night? I mean, with the bomb. And how did you get here?" I asked.

Emma sighed tiredly. "The bomb went off at around 8:10 last night. We didn't hear anything from the government in Annapolis and without the national guard, things got out of control quickly. We lost all our power and communications and looting was rampant. Businesses and stores burned, people ran around with stolen goods, other people shot at random people to try to steal whatever they had on them. I heard a rumor that a refugee camp was being set up near Harrisburg, so I got into a van with 10 there people and headed north into Pennsylvania. I'm still waiting to get picked up by the Red Cross to head there now."

Aidan and I shared a concerned glance. Things sounded really bad down there.

"Most of the people here escaped from Baltimore or D.C." Emma continued. "I can't describe how lucky you guys are to have electricity and running water. Because I could really use a shower right now."

I chuckled a bit. "You can thank Three MIle Island for that."

Emma returned a smile. "Yeah. Ironic that the thing that almost destroyed this area in 1979 is now the thing that's saving it."

Aidan couldn't help but smile too. It was kind of ironic.

"Do you know anyone else who can give us more info?" asked Emma.

Emma pointed out the door. "There's the Red Cross outside and more refugees coming in out on the streets. I think they're from the Pittsburgh area."

"Well, thanks! And welcome to Pennsylvania." I said as Emma and I shook hands before Aidan and I headed outside.

Outside, it was pretty crazy. Red cross vans and soldiers were everywhere distributing relief supplies and giving directions to the people on the streets who were headed to the Harrisburg North Refugee Camp. Aidan and I went up to a Red Cross van where a woman was handing out bottles of what looked like Iodine. Must be for countering internal radiation poisoning. She turned to us and was about to hand me a bottle when Aidan put his hand up.

"No thanks ma'am. We're not refugees. We just want to ask you a few questions." he said.

The worker put down the bottle and sighed with relief. "Well, that's good. We're running a bit low right now. Now, what questions do you have?"

"Yeah, uh, do you know what's going on with Pittsburgh? And what about all these people? Where are they from?" I asked.

"Most of them are from the Pittsburgh area. A bomb went off there, but not in the city itself." she answered.

Hold on, so Pittsburgh DIDN'T get hit?! Then what did?

"Wait, if Pittsburgh didn't get hit, then where did the bomb go off?" I asked.

The worker thought for a moment. "I can't say exactly, but from what the refugees told me, the bomb went off somewhere west of the city. Even though Pittsburgh survived the blast and most of the fallout which headed north, things are bad over there. Electric and communications are down, and I think that looting is really bad. A lot of people from that area are coming here to Harrisburg because they heard you guys still have electricity and running water."

"What about the other countries in the world? Are they doing anything?" Aidan asked.

"Canada is preparing to perform some supply drops in this area due to the refugee influx as well as in Northeastern PA, Michigan and Ohio. NATO is preparing to send a peacekeeping and relief force into New England and they'll probably send some supplies too." she answered

Aidan huffed. "They'd better! Otherwise we'll all starve."

The worker laughed. "Tell me about it! If you want more info, you should talk to more of the people here or take this." she said, handing me a card with a radio station number. "The state government is constantly making announcements over this radio station. You should check it out."

Aidan and I said our 'goodbyes' and headed off to talk to more people. The refugees and national guardsmen were all exhausted and a bit grumpy, but they were willing to answer most of our questions. A couple from Delaware County near Philadelphia confirmed that Philadelphia was gone. A national guardsman informed us that the PA National Guard was working to establish a "safe sector" that stretched from the PA-Maryland border all the way up to Williamsport, Allentown, and Scranton in the north, as far west as Johnstown, and as far east as West Chester. 2 teenagers from Washington D.C. said the city and the suburbs had been totally obliterated and Aidan and I had to keep our distance because neither of them looked very healthy. They probably absorbed some radiation.

Most shocking of all, we heard from a national guard captain that due to the refugee crisis, Harrisburg's population had swelled from 50,000 to around 500,000 overnight! The state government was struggling to find accommodations and supplies to support all of them. Another problem was being able to ensure that we had a steady supply of electricity. Three MIle Island had been refueled about 3 months ago, but we weren't sure how long it could support the Harrisburg Metro Area's electric grid.

Aidan and I had decided that we had heard enough from the refugees and we headed back up to our apartment to tune into the state government's radio station with Louis and Alexis. When we got back upstairs, both of them leapt straight for us!

"Lee, you made it!" cried Louisa and she threw her arms around me neck, her brown eyes sparkling with relief.

Geez, girls can be so emotional sometimes! I rolled my eyes and returned her hug.

"It's good to see you to Lou!" I replied. "A Red Cross worker outside gave us the name of a radio station that broadcasts state news. I think we should check it out."

Aidan wa way ahead of me. He'd already gotten out the radio and tuned into the given station. Once he found it, all 4 of us gathered around the radio and listened closely.

"Since midnight last night, the Pennsylvania state government has been accepting refugees from the Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, and Washington metro areas. Population of Harrisburg has reached an all-time high in its history as the number of people within the city and surrounding areas is estimated to be around 550,000 or more." announced the broadcaster.

"550,000!" gasped Alexis. "Can we even support that many in this area?"

Aiden shook his head. "I don't think so. Not for long."

"In the meantime, all Pennsylvania residents are ordered to begin rationing all essentials including water, electricity, food, fuel, batteries, and weapons. The Prime Minister of Canada has promised to perform several supply drops over Harrisburg, Allentown, Pittsburgh, State College, Erie, and Scranton over the next few days. An international Red Cross relief force is expected to arrive at the Harrisburg International Airport within the next month to deliver more supplies as well as evacuate stranded foreign citizens." continued the announcer.

"Well at least we're receiving aid." I said offhandedly. "Still, I wonder what's going on in the rest of the country."

"With communications and electric down in most of the country, I doubt we'll hear much from anywhere else." commented Aidan.

"And now for a full list of the cities that have been confirmed hit."

They were going to announce the cities that got hit! The energy in the room intensified and for a few seconds, I swear we could hear each other's' heartbeats.

"The list of confirmed hits include: Atlanta GA, Denver CO, Dallas and Houston TX, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Diego CA, Miami FL, St. George UT, Lawrence KS, Minneapolis MN, Chicago IL, Indianapolis IN, Seattle WA, Detroit MI, Boston MA, Hartford CT, Baltimore MD, Phoenix AZ, Washington D.C., Charlotte NC, and Philadelphia and Beaver Falls PA."

Man, that was a lot of places! Most of them seemed logical, but a few of them were a bit unusual like St. George UT, Lawrence KS, and Beaver Falls PA. What was so important about those locations?

"And now for a few of the major cities that have been confirmed spared, however, the situation of most of them remains unknown. They include:

Las Vegas, Nevada

Richmond, Virginia

Columbus and Cincinnati, Ohio

Montgomery, Alabama

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

St. Louis and Kansas City, Missouri

Nashville, Tennessee

Jacksonville, Tampa, and Tallahassee, Florida

New Orleans, Louisiana

Austin and San Antonio, Texas

Sacramento, California

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

and finally, New York City, New York

The majority of the listed cities are currently without power and communications including our very own Pittsburgh. The refugee situation is expected to worsen as the month progresses therefore, all PA residents are advised to keep tabs on all supplies and essentials as the National Guard establishes a safe zone that will stretch as far east as Allentown and West Chester, as far south as the PA-MD border, as far north as Williamsport, and as far west as Johnstown. As soon as it is established, borders will be strongly enforced to ensure the safety of all PA citizens. We will keep you notified and updated 24/7."

The radio crackled a bit with static before being cut off. So Pittsburgh DID survive! But Beaver Falls didn't. Despite that, things sounded really bad over there. No electricity, no running water, no communications, and next to no security like the National Guard, police, and Red Cross we have here in Harrisburg. No wonder so many people want to get out of there.

Over the next month, the situation in South Central PA would stabilize. Electricity was kept on, water kept running, and some communications kept up. The state government would remain in contact with Canada, the newly independent Republic of Appalachia (RoA) administered from Charleston WV, and to a limited extent, the international community. For now, each state, parts of states such as in our case, and even individual cities and towns would operate independently since a central government no longer existed in what used to be D.C.

Speaking of independant parts of states, a safe zone was successfully established by the National Guard that covered all of South Central PA and some of Eastern and Northern PA. The state government promptly declared independence from the United States, and announced the creation of the Republic of Greater Pennsylvania (RGP) with its capital in Harrisburg, our state governor as "president", and a population of around 7 million. Appalachia was the first to recognize us and we recognized them in return. And as promised, the borders were strongly enforced. Unfortunately, these enforced borders spelled the recipe for a border conflict in late October with Maryland that would test the strength of a newly independent Central Pennsylvania. But that is a story for another entry.

 _To be continued..._

 _And now...A sneak peak at Chapter 3_

The radio announcement came in early on Halloween morning. The Red Cross and other international relief agencies had taken charge of most of the Eastern US while some former government organization called "Ravenwood" had taken charge in the West.

"Panic arises as the borough of Hanover has fallen to invading Marylanders."

"The governor has urged all PA residents to take up arms to drive back the invaders."

"Defenses around the city of York are on the verge of collapse."

"PA National Guard soldiers have now occupied the Maryland panhandle."

"It's over for you Lee! You and all of Pennsylvania! We will destroy you, your friends, and your pathetic little republic and take all of its resources for ourselves!"


End file.
